Spaceman
by katesanders422
Summary: There are two sides to Albus Potter. The chess playing, cigarette smoking existentialist and the wild, free spirit who just wants happiness... and Scorpius Malfoy. You can't escape the second attack. It's all in your mind.
1. Prologue

Prologue

The first time it happened, Albus thought he'd lost his mind.

It was October 4th. Albus remembered because it was Lucy's birthday. He could recall sitting in an unused classroom with his sister and cousins, sharing cake and pumpkin juice. Rose must have asked him thirty times if he was alright. He remembered finally snapping and yelling at her to just _back off _and the next second in seemed, Albus found himself outside under the quidditch stands with a smoking cigarette in his hand and no memory of getting there or how he had managed to get a cigarette.

He wracked his brain trying to remember how he'd gotten there but the memory did not exist. He buried the cigarette in the ground and sprinted all the way back to Gryffindor tower. He ran right into Rose who seemed to have been waiting for him outside the portrait hole. She scolded him for a good ten minutes for running off how he did and how she was still waiting for an apology. Albus stood there, shocked and confused, lost for what to say. Rose mistook his expression for regret and her face softened. She said that maybe she was being a little too _overbearing_. She gave Albus a hug and lead the way into the common room. Albus didn't tell her.

He was fine for a few weeks, trying to forget and convince himself that nothing had happened. A few days before Halloween and Albus had a run in with _Mr Fucking Perfect_. Albus hated Scorpius Malfoy and his pretentious attitude about how he was better then everyone _and knew it _and how he was the King of the whole damn world and didn't want to share the limelight. Scorpius hated Albus and his whole family and how they were everything his family wasn't.

Nothing was different that day except it was. Usually they just yelled at each other, throwing insults back and forth until a teacher would separate them. This time Albus only heard Malfoy's first jab at his family and the next second Albus was on top of Scorpius punching him over and over again. He didn't remember getting there.

Once he realized what he had done Albus scrambled backwards and looked at his hands and at Scorpius Malfoy who was bleeding on the ground and staring up at him in stunned horror. Albus ran, not knowing what else to do.

Two days later and he didn't remember what set him off. All he knew was suddenly he was in the prefect's bathroom with a bottle of hair dye in one hand and his bangs dyed a brilliant shade of red. He stared at himself. He had wanted to dye his hair since the beginning of the summer but he thought he wouldn't actually go through with it. He tossed the bottle and when Rose asked later about the hair he lied and said he'd been thinking hard on it for a few days and had decided to do it today.

In the time leading up to the Christmas break, everything got worse. He would have more strange memory gaps and more people coming up to him and telling him about things he had done without remembering. Girls would come up and thank him and ask if they can hook up again sometime. Albus would lie to them because he had no memory of ever getting with them. People would congratulate him on quidditch games that he wouldn't even remember playing.

And then came Christmas. It got better when he found out. Leading up to him finding out what was happening he began to wonder if he could keep going on like he was. Was he really living anymore. Or was every second going to be spent worrying about what he was going to do next or who he was going to hurt without being able to remember. After December he spent the rest of 6th year figuring out how to handle it. He tried to keep to himself and he even apologized to Scorpius Malfoy. He wanted things to get better. And it did for awhile.

Then August happened.

After it happened, he needed to go back to school. He didn't think he could spend another minute in that house where the memories he remembered and the ones he didn't haunted him so vividly.


	2. The 4th Potter Kid

**Chapter 1: The 4****th**** Potter Kid**

To understand the strangeness of the situation one must first look at the Potter family in relation to the youngest son.

Harry, the patriarch. Head of the auror office and named "most likely to blow something up in the ministry".

Ginny is the renowned quidditch player turned journalist who deserves a medal for all she does for the family.

The eldest, James. He is already the quidditch star just a year out of school.

Lily, the youngest and the only girl. Don't let the perfect smile and the air of innocence fool you. Because she's basically a grade A bitch.

And then there is Albus or Al if you catch him at a certain time. From the outside it would seem that Lily would be the nice one and Albus is the raging asshole.

Albus Potter is 6'5 and is currently the tallest person in all of Hogwarts (he knows, he checked). His considerable lack of muscle and coordination (except on his broom) would generally make people laugh but the rest of him is a whole other deal.

He showed up in 5th year with a wardrobe consisting of black clothes and strange muggle band t-shirts. He had leather bracelets and necklaces and was basically a complete mystery. The next year his ears were pierced and in the winter he showed up to class with dyed red bangs.

Albus was always odd, drifting around on his own and being all mysterious. It was just before the start of 6th year when things went bad. He won't speak about it directly but everyone read it in the paper. After that things got even more strange. Albus tried finding ways to deal with it and it took months to realize that he had already found a way.

Al is charming and seductive and wild. He plays quidditch like he wants to die and writes stories like he wants to live forever. Al doesn't have a care in the world9. He'll say anything he wants to say and there's never been something he wanted that he didn't get.

Albus is quieter. He studies and plays quidditch like it's chess. His mind is so complicated that even he doesn't know how to handle it. He is an existentialist, spending time staring into nothing and thinking about everything. Albus is searching, always searching, for something, something that makes his life extraordinary.

Albus and Al are not the same person. They look the same and like the same music and both enjoy licorice wands to a point where it could actually be considered an addiction

but they are not one person.

~O-O~

Harry and Ginny were both there to drop them off this year. Last year Harry was busy being superman overseas somewhere so Ginny had to do it alone.

Today, Ginny was busy fussing over Lily.

"You've got everything?"

"Yes, _mum_."

"You'll make sure to take care of your brother?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Merlin, he's not _dying _for god's sake."

She let her parents hug her one last time before she rushed off. Then all eyes were on him.

"Ready to go, Albus?" Ginny said confidently though her eyes betrayed her.

"Al," Al corrected.

"Oh. Right, okay."

Ginny bent down and pretended to fiddle with Al's bags. When she stood her face was dry but her hands were wet.

Harry swooped in like he always did. "You'll be alright, Al? You can come home anytime if you need to."

Al rolled his eyes and sighed very loudly. "God, you people really need to lighten up. No wonder Albus is such a pansy. He can't even off himself properly."

He felt bad when he saw his parents' faces. He hugged them and apologized and left before he could fuck it up any more.

After shoving his bags into the compartments under the train, Al went in to find his cousins. They were presumably in the same one he had graffitied at the end of last year claiming it to be theirs. Oops.

The compartment was nearly full with his relatives. There was Rose, Lucy, Louis, Hugo and Roxanne. The others had already graduated which made _Albus _quite lonely sometimes. Lily was off somewhere with her popular friends, too cool to hang out with her family.

"Oh, Albus!" said Hugo looking up. "Play me at chess, the others won't."

Al flopped down on his seat and grinned widely. "No can do. _Albus_ isn't here right now."

It was small but Al didn't miss it. Everyone in the compartment froze for a moment before pretending like nothing happened.

"Wonderful, Al," said Rose sarcastically. "What craziness are you gonna put us through _this _train ride. More graffiti?"

"Trivial," said Al. "Actually Gloria Feldman was giving me sex eyes on the platform so I'm gonna go see if I can fuck her in the toilets or something."

Al winked at an appalled Lucy and skipped out of the compartment, ignoring Rose who was angrily calling out after him.

Al strolled casually through the train, peering into every compartment. He walked right into Cale Harrison without even noticing. Cale is a Slytherin but he's one of the nicer ones. And his brother happens to be Albus's best friend.

"Shit, sorry," said Cale. "Didn't see you."

Al leaned in very close to his face and touched his cheek with his hand.

"Didn't you?" he whispered seductively. And then he brushed by without another word.

Cale stood frozen in the hall long after Albus Potter had left. He had no idea what had just happened. When he finally remembered how to walk he was called out by none other than Rose Weasley when he passed her compartment.

"Hey, Cale!" she said happily. "Good summer?"

Cale turned to her very slowly. Rose's eyebrows disappeared under her fringe.

"You okay there?"

"Your cousin in about the weirdest person I have ever met," was all Cale managed to say before he moved on.

"Shit," said Louis.

Somewhere down the train, Al was shagging Gloria Feldman in an empty compartment. The door was locked but neither had cast a silencing charm because they both had massive ego's and, if you're asking Rose, unfortunate reputations.

When they were done and had redressed, Gloria pecked Al on the cheek and said, "Find me again sometime, ya?" Then she bit her lip in a very suggestive way and left the compartment.

Al let out a low whistle and sat down on the floor to tie up his all black converse. He looked at himself in the reflection on the compartment door and wondered for the hundredth time what he would look like with a lip ring. His only hesitation came from the fact that it would probably be harder to make out with one.

When Al stood up a strange look crossed his face. He closed his eyes and when he opened them he looked around as if he were lost. He smelled the collar of his jacket to find that it smelled like perfume.

"Aw, crap."

He left the compartment and made the slow trek back to his family. When he got there, Rose looked all ready to yell at him but she caught sight of the look on her cousin's face and her expression softened.

"Hey, Albus," she said.

Albus sat down heavily in his seat and buried his face in his hands. "How bad was it," he moaned.

"Not… not too bad," lied Hugo.

"Except for the part where you went off to bang Gloria Feldman," said Roxanne quietly.

"Also you did something to Cale," said Rose. "He came in here and was all weirded out."

"Perfect," said Albus flatly. "Just great."

"You're not going to be able to hide it, Albus," said Rose in her motherly voice. "Last year wasn't as bad because even you didn't know what was happening. Now that Al's here people are gonna know something is wrong."

"Ya, I know."

Rose pursed her lips and stopped herself from saying anything else.

Hugo looked around as if making sure the conversation was done before he leaned towards Albus and said, "So wanna play me at chess now?"

Albus smiled and said yes. They played for the whole train ride and Albus was glad for a bit of normalcy in his life.

Er, lives.


	3. Adventure Time

**Chapter 2: Adventure time with Al the psycho and Finn the drug-addict**

Albus could hear the feast going on in the Great Hall and he wanted nothing more than to be in there enjoying it too but instead he was outside in the hall, freezing his ass off while waiting for the headmaster. He already knew what he was going to say. _Try to keep in control, don't hurt anyone, don't use it as an excuse to get out of assignments blah blah blah. _Albus had already heard it all.

The door to the side room Albus was waiting beside flew open and Albus picked himself up off the wall and straightened his robes. However it was Rose who walked out. She mouthed _heads meeting _at her cousin before striding off for the Great Hall, her Head Girl badge shining on her robes. Albus didn't have to wait long to find out who the Head Boy was. He strutted out arrogantly from the room and walked right by Albus like he was King.

"You have got to be kidding me," said Albus flatly.

Scorpius Malfoy turned around in mock surprise.

"Oh, didn't see you there, Potter. Wow, you blend in _so_ well with the wall."

Albus flipped him off. "I cannot _believe_ you were made Head Boy."

"Jealous you weren't good enough?"

"Oh, I'm crazy, I know why I didn't get the badge," said Albus. "I just can't believe the Headmaster was stupid enough to pick you."

"Thank you, Mr. Potter," said a quiet voice behind the boys. Albus spun around.

"Oops."

"You may leave, Mr. Malfoy," said the headmaster. "Potter." He beckoned Albus into the room. Albus, still blushing, went in but not before sending Malfoy a very angry look.

The meeting went exactly how Albus expected it. The staff knew, the students wouldn't unless Albus changed his mind and Albus could go about his life normally unless something happened that would put other students in danger. _What about putting myself in danger_, Albus thought. That night in August swam through Albus's mind and his hands began to shake. He shook his head and focused on his breathing like one of his million shrinks had told him to do. When the meeting was over and Albus was free to leave he found that he no longer had any appetite.

~O-O~

Later that night, Scorpius had never been more thankful to get into bed then he was right then. He collapsed on top of the covers fully clothed and didn't ever want to move again. He buried his face into his pillow and the next second someone was wrapping him up in his blankets like a burrito and pushing him off his bed.

"CALE!" Scorpius yelled, trying to detangle himself. His arms were pinned to his sides and he ended up just wiggling on the floor. Scorpius huffed as Cale sat on him.

"You are the worst best friend ever," said Scorpius flatly.

"And you love me," said Cale. "Well, now that I've got you attention let's go get drunk and do something stupid."

Scorpius rolled his eyes and managed to knock Cale off of him. "No. Mate, you know I don't do that and it's the first night back. We have lessons tomorrow."

Cale now looked pissed off. "Merlin, I don't even know why I bother! You never have fun, Mr. _Perfect_."

"I am _not_ perfect," said Scorpius.

"Oh?"

Scorpius managed to get out of the blankets and he sat up. "And don't call people perfect. It's makes them think about all their flaws when you do and that makes people sad."

Cale had the audacity to laugh at that. He got up and crossed the 7th year Slytherin dorm room and collapsed onto his bed.

"Christ, mate. If _you're_ not perfect then there's absolutely no hope for the rest of us."

Scorpius wanted to reply but he didn't want to make a big deal of it in front of the rest of his dorm mates. So he got into bed and turned off his light, trying not to think about all his flaws that he didn't ever let anyone see.

~O-O~

Albus woke up the next morning much earlier than he needed to. Al would have slept in till the bell and then showed up 20 minutes late in wrinkled robes and a cup of coffee in his hand like he owned the place. Albus liked the mornings. He read a chapter in the muggle novel he was reading and had a long shower before any of his dorm mates could use up the hot water. He tried to tame his hair (though quickly gave up) and brushed his teeth, all the while wondering what he would look like with a lip ring.

He left for breakfast when the rest of the boys were beginning to stir. In the Great Hall he was one of the first few to get there and he had already finished his 3rd cup of tea by the time the hall was mostly full.

He was reading another chapter in his book when Cale Harrison appeared behind him.

"Seen my much less good looking twin brother?" he asked, stealing Albus's tea cup that was half way to his lips and drinking the rest. He had never had any boundaries.

"He should be here soon," said Albus taking his cup back. He noticed Scorpius standing back behind his friend. Cale and Albus were friends purely because of Finn Harrison. But this didn't stop Albus and Scorpius from always jumping down each other's throats.

"Er, sorry about yesterday, Cale," Albus said, suddenly remembering what Rose had said. "I was being a little…" He made a very non-descriptive hand gesture and didn't say anything else.

"No worries," said Cale slowly, though maybe there were worries because Albus was acting incredibly strange. Yesterday he'd been all… confident and sexual almost and now he was reading a detective book called _Sherlock Holmes _and drinking earl grey tea.

"Hello, best friend!" called someone obnoxiously, running to Albus and giving him a very enthusiastic high five that was only half-heartedly returned.

"Hello, Finn," said Albus, pouring himself more tea.

The boy named Finn turned to Cale. "Hello, have we met before? You look awfully familiar."

Cale laughed and lightly slapped him in the face. "What is wrong with you today?! You're much crazier than usual."

"Albus had this whole bottle of pills that I stole and I took a few so I'm pretty much hiiiiigh as a kite right now."

Albus paled and said, "You did WHAT!" at the same time Cale said, "Great, my brother's a drug-addict."

With one last friendly slap Cale grabbed Scorpius's arm and pulled him back over to the Slytherin table. No one saw Albus bow his head and close his eyes.

Rose and Hugo showed up then and Rose said, "You look like you've been slapped, Finn."

"I have," said Finn grinning brightly. "Cale of course."

Al snapped his head up and laughed very loudly. "Cause you're high on prescription drugs, you idiot. And on the first day of school, no less!"

Finn grinned. "Sweet! Al's back. I didn't want to go get properly high on my own. Shall we?"

Al nodded vigorously and stood up, downing the rest of his tea. He then pulled a face and coughed violently.

"Christ, I hate earl grey. Where's the coffee?"

At this point Rose had had enough because she stood up, grabbed Al's collar and said, "Don't you dare fucking do this, Al. It's the first day. Let Albus just go to class."

Al's face fell and he looked down at the floor. "You're right. You're so right. I should just act like that boring twat and be annoying and predictable for the rest of my life!" Al grinned like a damn Cheshire cat. "Which probably wouldn't be too long, am I right? Did you hear what Albus tried to do in August? Baaaad boy."

Rose was crying now. She sat back down and stared up at her cousin who wasn't really her cousin anymore. Al felt a little bad for what he had said but quickly brushed it off and walked away with Finn.

"Might have been too much, mate," said Finn.

"Whatever."

The boys left the hall and went outside to their usual spot behind the greenhouse. Finn lit a joint and passed it to Al. Al knew Albus wouldn't be too happy about this but he didn't really fucking care anymore.

Since _it _hadhappened, the real Albus hadn't been ready to talk about it and he was glad that he had always been a little strange. Because now that there were two of him _everything_ was strange.

Last year had been a bad year. Albus didn't understand what was happening to him. Why there would be gaps in his memory and why he would be told he did strange things without really remembering. After Christmas he was diagnosed and found out that this was a coping mechanism for what had gone on. His mind was trying to protect itself from what had happened so it made Al, someone to escape to.

Al took one last hit and tried to stop thinking. He wasn't the thinker. He passed the joint back to Finn and closed his eyes.

Albus opened them. He shook his head a few times and when the strange foggy feeling didn't go away he realized that Al had gotten them high.

"Oh, fuck."

~O-O~

Albus slipped quietly into Arithmancy and found his seat next to Rose. Finn had gone off to Ancient Runes.

Rose looked incredibly pissed but sighed when she saw the look on Albus's face.

"You can't go through a whole year like this, Albus," she hissed. "Go back on your meds."

"Ya, that's a great idea," whispered Albus. "I should definitely go back to being the brain dead depressed zombie but hey, at least I didn't transition!"

Rose ran a hand through her hair. "Merlin, you're right. I don't know what to do. So what meds did Finn steal this morning?"

"The anti-depressants," Albus muttered.

Rose didn't ask any more questions after that.

~O-O~

That night the Potter/Weasley clan had their first camp out of the year in the room of requirement. They made the room into an outdoor beach, complete with marshmallow sticks (they had to bring their own marshmallows of course) and a bonfire. Al didn't make an appearance even once and for the first night in a long while Albus could remember what it was like to be normal.


	4. Horrowshow

**Chapter 3: Horrorshow**

It was Thursday and Albus was feeling strangely pleased with himself. The week was almost done and he hadn't caused too many problems yet. He was on his way to his last lesson, transfiguration, when Scorpius Malfoy chose that moment to ruin everything.

Albus saw him leaning casually against the wall with his wand tucked behind his ear and his hands in his pockets. He smirked when he saw Albus and walked over, falling in step beside him.

"Shoelaces are untied, Potter," said Scorpius. "Gonna have to take points from Gryffindor for that."

"Go fuck a tree," said Albus, willing himself not to get riled up. Scorpius Malfoy would not ruin this for him.

"Foul language," smirked Scorpius. "That'll cost you."

"Go bother someone else, please."

Scorpius got a sick satisfaction seeing Albus's face get redder and redder.

"You know," began Scorpius, "one of these days Gryffindor is just going to kick you out for being such a useless embarrassment. I'm impressed that they've put up with you for this long-"

Albus abruptly turned around and half walked, half ran back the way they came. Scorpius stopped and watched him go, laughing at how much of a fucking pussy Albus Potter was. He thought briefly about how Albus never used to back down from a fight but brushed it off and forgot about it.

~O-O~

Rose waited nervously in transfiguration for Albus to show. Class had already begun and he was late. Usually when this happened it wasn't Albus who showed up.

Before she could get too worried, her cousin slipped into his seat beside her.

"Where the _hell_ have you been!" she hissed, punching him in the shoulder.

He turned to her and winked. "Bumped into Gloria Feldman if you know what I mean."

Rose felt like breaking something. Watching her cousin destroy himself from the inside was the most painful thing she's ever had to do but knowing she can't do anything about it is even worse.

"What happened, Al," Rose whispered, glancing up at the professor to make sure he was busy. "What set you off?"

Al shrugged in an attempt to be nonchalant but it didn't fool Rose.

"Malfoy was being a dick as per usual," he muttered. He absentmindedly rubbed his left forearm.

"Don't let him get to you," Rose said gently though in her mind she was imagining all the pleasant ways she would violently kill Malfoy later. "Stay away from him. He'll only make it harder for you."

Al didn't answer. He fell silent and became rather moody for the rest of the lesson. In the last ten minutes, the class was given a quick, multiple-choice pop quiz. Al tried to focus for Albus's sake but all he could think of was Malfoy's cold drawl telling him what he already thinks about.

_Useless embarrassment._

Al looked back at the test but everything was messed up. He felt like he was going insane.

_You are a massively fucked up person with split personalities and is probably too unstable to live in normal society. You should:_

_Hang yourself_

_Drown yourself_

_Jump off Hogwarts_

_Cut your arm again. You did it once. Common, do it again. No one will miss you. Rose hates having to deal with you. Scorpius Malfoy had it right. You are useless to this world. An embarrassment to Harry Potter. Do it. _Do it_. _

The tension snapped and Albus squeezed his eyes shut and tried to stop himself from having a panic attack. When he opened his eyes he realized that he had accidentally cut himself with his quill. He looked around to see if anyone had noticed but everyone seemed too busy with their quizzes. He peeked at Rose but she oblivious to anything other than her test.

Albus quickly wiped the blood from his hand on the inside of his robes and looked at his test. It seemed like during his fit he had, instead of circling the answers, drawn himself riding on top of a unicorn that was viciously stomping on Scorpius Malfoy's face. He would have laughed if the situation hadn't been so screwed up.

He was about to try and figure out what to do when the bell rang and the professor asked for everyone to hand in their tests.

"Shall I hand in yours too, Al?" said Rose, standing up and holding out her hand. Albus panicked. Finally, as to not look suspicious, he rolled it up and handed it over. By the time Rose got back to the table, her cousin was gone.

~O-O~

Albus spent the evening sitting in the shower still fully clothed with his hands grasping at the back of his neck as sobs wracked his body. Scorpius Malfoy spent the evening trying to heal the cut on his face from where Rose Weasley had abruptly walked up to him after dinner and punched him, warning him to stay away from her cousin. For the first time, Scorpius felt bad. Rose had never fought Albus's battle before because she had never needed to. The only reason she would now is because Albus cannot fight his own anymore.

~O-O~

The next morning Albus was called down to the transfiguration office. Professor Healy yelled at him for a good twenty minutes, telling him that his drawing had been inappropriate and rude. He told Albus that he knew his disorder was complicated and hard to deal with sometimes but that this should not happen. He gave Albus detention and told him that he was walking a thin line.

Albus was pissed off when he got to defense against the dark arts. He had missed breakfast to get detention, he had forgotten his DADA notebook in the common room and was promptly yelled at in front of the class and Gloria Feldman kept trying to catch Albus's eye from where she sat with her Hufflepuff friends. Albus felt like puking and could not believe that Al could actually like her.

When class ended, Albus was so high strung that anything could set him off right now. Finn waited for him outside DADA to go to Herbology and he picked up on Albus's mood.

"Shit, Albus, are you okay?" he asked, genuinely concerned. He then paused. "Al?"

"No," said Albus curtly.

They turned the corner and descended the stone steps to the grounds. Finn waved at his brother who was waiting outside Greenhouse 7. Gryffindor had Herbology with the Slytherins. The two Gryffindor's walked towards Cale and Albus didn't notice Scorpius with him until he stepped forward and glared at Albus.

"Oi, Potter!" he sneered. "Keep your crazy cousin away from me."

Albus could see the half healed cut on his cheek. Albus smirked.

"Let a girl beat you up, Malfoy?"

Malfoy frowned and took a step closer to Albus. "Let a girl fight your battles, Potter?"

Albus snapped. He closed the gap between him and Malfoy and punched him, _hard_. The cut on Scorpius's face reopened but Albus didn't care, punching him again and splitting his lip. Scorpius shook of his surprise and grabbed Albus by his neck, pushing him head first into the greenhouse wall. Blood dripped down the side of Albus's face but he just lunged at Malfoy, wrapping one hand around his shirt, raising his fist and-

"BOYS!"

All heads snapped over to where Professor Longbottom stood by the greenhouse door.

"What's going on here?" he demanded though it was clear he already knew.

Albus and Scorpius shared a quick look.

"We were just-" began Scorpius.

"Sharing an intimate moment," finished Albus. He let go of Scorpius's shirt and wrapped his arm casually around Scorpius's shoulders instead. Scorpius plastered a very fake smile on his face and wound his arm around Albus's waist. Professor Longbottom looked at the pair long and hard before he grunted and went back into the greenhouse.

The moment he was gone, Cale and Finn both burst out laughing while Albus and Scorpius dropped their arms and stepped away from each other. Albus snickered in spite of himself and wiped the blood from his face.

Scorpius licked his split lip and looked at Albus. "Intimate moment? Really?"

"Shut up. Worked didn't it."

Professor Longbottom then called them into the greenhouse. Albus went in and sat with Finn. Scorpius sat with Cale. And that was the most civil they had ever been with each other.

~O-O~

Scorpius and Cale were in the boys' toilets while everyone was at dinner. Cale was sitting on the window ledge, smoking a joint, while Scorpius was at the mirror trying to heal his face.

"Christ, he doesn't look strong but he punches hard," winced Scorpius, wiping blood from his lip. "Fuck, this hurts…"

Cale snorted. "Suck it up, Princess."

"We've never actually fought before," Scorpius thought out loud, more to himself than to Cale. "Other than that absolutely mental time last year when he went out of his mind. It's strange. Usually he's just all punk-rock-mysterious and glares at me a lot. Oh wait, there was that time he bitch slapped me after quidditch."

"Now _that _was funny."

Cale jumped off the window ledge and offered the joint to Scorpius. "Want a hit? Tastes like blueberries."

Scorpius thought about it for the briefest of seconds. He hated being who he had to be all the time. Sometimes he just wanted to yell _"fuck it!" _and smoke and drink and be with whomever he wanted.

But he couldn't. It wouldn't be worth what his dad would do to him.

"Naw, I'm cool," said Scorpius. Cale rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. I'm going to dinner. Coming?"

Scorpius shook his head. "I have to go see Professor Healy. My father wanted me to talk with him about my Exceeds Expectations on my Transfiguration quiz."

"Fuckin' hell, Scor. You gotta tell your dad to fuck off," said Cale, flushing the end of his joint. "You're 17. Just do what you want to do."

Scorpius watched Cale leave, his eyebrows furrowing with Cale's words ringing in his ears. He looked in the mirror at himself, the boy he barely even knew.

He was perfect. Everything was exactly as it should be and Scorpius wanted nothing more for it to not be so. He did _everything_ right. But to who was it right to? To Scorpius? Or to his father.

Scorpius thought of Albus Potter. They were, in a way, the same. Their father's were famous though they were at different ends of fame. As their kids they had something to uphold. And yet look at Albus Potter. The minute school ends for the day he swaps his robes for ripped jeans and concert shirts. His ears are pierced and his bangs are fucking red for god's sake.

_He did it_, thought Scorpius as he left the bathroom.

_Can't I?_

Scorpius felt depressed as he walked down the empty halls towards the Transfiguration wing. He didn't know what he wanted. He didn't know what he would do in the future. He really had no clue about anything and above everything else, he felt lost.

He felt even shittier in his meeting. He had expected Professor Healy to go through his quiz and tell him his mistakes. Instead he asked Scorpius about his father and the true reason he was here. Scorpius felt like he was talking to Cale again.

"You don't have to get Outstanding in everything and you don't have to follow everything your father says. Just do what _you_ want," was what Healy left him with. Scorpius felt like crying.

He left the room quickly after that and hurried off down the hall, wanting to be up in his dormitory where he could hate himself alone. He stopped when he heard someone singing quietly inside a transfiguration classroom.

Scorpius stopped and walked slowly towards the only lit classroom. He listened.

_You know that I was hoping that I could leave this star-crossed world behind._

The voice sounded subdued. Sad. Scorpius would know that voice anywhere.

_And that was the turning point. That was one lonely night._

Scorpius peeked around the door. Albus Potter was standing on top of a desk, cleaning the tops of the bookshelves that lined the edge of the room.

_Well now I'm back at home and I'm looking forward to this life I live. You know it's gonna haunt me._

Scorpius wanted to run in the opposite direction. He felt like he was trespassing on something he definitely wasn't supposed to see. Because this wasn't the Albus Potter everyone saw.

_And you know I'm fine but I hear those voices at night. Sometimes they justify my claim._

Albus's voice was slow and sad, like he'd held the weight of the world on his shoulder for too long and he was finally giving up.

_The Spaceman says, "Everybody look down." Its all in your mind._

Albus had taken off his black robes to clean and he had pushed back the sleeves on his white button-up shirt. Scorpius's eyes found the thick bandage that was wrapped around Albus's left forearm.

Scorpius felt horrified and uncomfortable and wanted nothing more than to forget that he had ever seen that. He tried to convince himself that it was just an innocent accident but he knew that would be wrong. _Hoping that I could leave this star-crossed world behind._

Scorpius abruptly turned around and walked back the way he came. He wanted to forget but he knew he wouldn't. He grabbed at his wrist that was hidden under his watch. He knew now that him and Albus Potter had more in common than just their fathers.


	5. Islands

**Chapter 4: Islands**

Although Albus was the best on the team, he hadn't been made quidditch captain for obvious reasons. Finn had gotten the title. Sometimes Albus thought that the rest of the team were a little confused by the appointment considering Finn was always going to Albus for tips and plays and because they were both chasers it was easy to see who was more skilled and scored more.

But then the team would remember that some days Albus would be all serious and stick to the plays and the next day he would be bat shit crazy, flying all over the place and nearly jumping off his broom to catch the quaffle. Everyone knew that Albus was unpredictable and basically a little mental but that was as far as Albus was willing to tell them.

They had their first practice on Sunday. It went well and Albus was pleased when he touched down on the ground and found that he was still himself. In the changeroom, the team was talking about next weeks opening match of the season, Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff.

"Hufflepuff is gonna suck," said Sam. "Taylor and Robb graduated last year."

"They still have their keeper, though," said Finn. "He's probably the best keeper at Hogwarts. Sorry, Phil."

"Fuck you."

Sam laughed. "Well, at least we have Albus to go all mental on them and try to jump on their brooms like last year."

Albus bit his lip and tried to ignore it. He looked up and could see Finn sending him a warning glance.

"Not funny," Albus said.

"Aw, common," said Sam, enjoying winding him up. "You were the one who did it. We're just joking, Al."

Albus whipped around. "Do _not_ call me that."

Now Sam looked confused.

"Mate, I thought that was your-"

Albus didn't hear him finish. He could already feel it happening as he ran out of the changeroom. Once outside, Al slowed his pace and strolled casually back to the castle. He looked up at the sky. He wanted a cigarette.

Al walked through the mostly empty castle. It was about an hour to curfew and most people were already back in their dorms. Walking by the library Al saw Rose and Hugo studying in the corner. Al smiled somewhat sadistically before he put on Albus's usual somber face and walked up to them. Rose saw him first.

"Hey, Albus," she said. "How was practice?"

"Fine," said Al in the non committal way that Albus usually spoke in. "Al tried to be a dick as per usual but I shut him out."

Rose looked surprised. "Good for you, Albus. Getting control."

"Thanks, Rosie," said Al. "So what are you guys doing?"

"I'm helping Hugo with potions."

"Can I see?"

Rose handed over Hugo's homework and, taking a lighter out of his pocket, Al set it on fire. He held up the burning page and looked at the hilarious expressions on his cousins' faces.

"God, your faces are priceless," said Al, grinning.

"Fuck off, Al," growled Rose. Al pretended to look appalled.

"What! But Rosie, I'm your favorite cousin, aren't I?!"

"Albus is, you're not. Common Hugo."

Pulling her brother to his feet, Rose stormed away, sending one last look of pure hatred at Al. Al waved at her sarcastically. When he turned back around, Scorpius Malfoy was walking out from a row of bookshelves with his nose buried in a book.

"Malfoy!" Al called arrogantly. "Excellent, you're here right on time."

Scorpius looked up in complete confusion. "Uh, what? I didn't say I'd be here…"

Al laughed and jumped to his feet. He stretched and sauntered over to Scorpius.

"Wanna go get wasted or something?" he asked. Scorpius's eyebrows furrowed.

"Why the fuck are you asking me? We are not friends, Potter. And also I don't get drunk or do any of that stuff."

Al flipped his red bangs out of his eyes and stared at Scorpius seductively, his eyes dark and full of trouble.

"Don't you?" he whispered. "I think there is a lot that we don't know about you. You look like Mr. Perfect with the grades and the hair but I think you are full of dark secrets. Isn't that right."

By now Albus was right up in front of Scorpius.

Scorpius couldn't believe this was happening. Albus Potter was acting very weird and he had just said what Scorpius thought no one knew.

"How did you-" he began. Al grinned sinisterly.

"I can see it everywhere. You're not perfect. You're a ticking time bomb, counting down the seconds until you lose it. And I want front row seats when you do."

Al backed up and smiled sweetly. "So wanna have sex in the restricted session?"

"_What_?" Scorpius choked out in disbelief. This conversation had not gone _at all_ how he thought it would.

"No?" said Al. "Alright, next time then."

And then he winked and left Scorpius standing there with his mouth hanging open.

Out in the hall Al shuddered like he had suddenly become very cold and he put a hand on the wall to steady himself. Albus then shook his head and ran off down the corridor until he was as far away as possible from the library. When he knew he was far enough away he collapsed onto the ground, back against the wall.

That had never happened before. Usually when he came down from being Al he wouldn't remember anything. But that time something was different. It was like Albus had been co-conscious, like he had been a spectator while Al had put on that little show.

Normally Albus would have been happy about this and that hopefully this was progress. But right now all he could think about was how he had literally just asked Scorpius Malfoy if he wanted to have sex. With him. Who is also a man.

Fuck.

~O-O~

Scorpius walked slowly back to the Slytherin common room, only moving automatically because his mind was going absolutely crazy. Once back at the dorm he collapsed on his bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," said Cale from across the room.

Scorpius sat up very fast. "What the _hell_ is wrong with Albus Potter."

Cale laughed. "No idea. Although he was super weird to me on the train."

"Okay because he just offered to have sex with me in the library."

Cale sat up at record speed, his transfiguration notes flying across the room.

"NO FUCKING WAY."

Scorpius shushed him even though the rest of their dorm mates were still downstairs in the common room.

"Shut the fuck up! He wasn't like in his right mind though. At least I don't think he was. He wasn't like normal, annoying, thinking Potter. He was like… crazy, wild, hormonal Potter."

Cale apparently found this hilarious. He rolled onto his back and laughed until he accidentally smacked his forehead into his bedpost.

"You two don't even like each other," thought Cale, rubbing his forehead. He then started laughing again. "Maybe all this time he's secretly wanted to have sex with you. Oh wait, not so secretly, eh?"

Scorpius flipped him off and began to get ready for bed. When he was finally in bed, Scorpius couldn't turn off his brain. All he could think about was Albus and what he had said about him and how he had called Scorpius a time bomb waiting to go off. Because Scorpius knew he wasn't Mr. Perfect.

Maybe he was a fucking Atomic Bomb.

~O-O~

Albus slept in longer than usual. Rose and Finn were already eating breakfast when he got down.

"The weirdest thing happened last night," he said as he sat down. "It was a good thing though. Well, kind of."

Finn looked up but Rose ignored him.

"Rose?"

She raised her head slowly and stared at him, completely unamused.

"Albus. I don't know how much more of this I can take. One minute you're my best friend and the next you're lighting my brother's homework on fire."

Albus ran a hand through his hair. "Fuck, did I really do that?"

"No," said Rose. "Al did. You're not the same person and I hate him."

She cut Albus off before he could say anything and left without another word. Albus looked at Finn.

"So what happened?" Finn asked.

"Al made an appearance after practice," said Albus. "I don't remember setting Hugo's homework on fire but I do remember Al coming on to Scorpius Malfoy."

Finn burst out laughing and it was several minutes before he could calm down enough to talk.

"Well, I guess this is a step forward, yeah?" he said. "You can be like… half conscious or whatever. That's good, right?"

"Ya, great, now I just have to avoid Scorpius Malfoy for the rest of my life." Albus looked down the hall to where Rose had left. "She knows that I don't want to be like this right? That I can't help it?"

"She knows, Albus," said Finn. "It's just hard to deal with but she will always be there for you even when she hates you."

He smiled nicely and left too, leaving Albus alone at the table.

~O-O~

Cale and Scorpius made their way to potions, the first class of the day and one of the classes he shares with Albus.

"Fuck, it's eating me alive. I've decided to just talk to him about it," said Scorpius as they turned down a hall in the dungeons. "Can't be that bad, right?"

"Dunno," said Cale. "Maybe he'll try to get into your pants again."

"Shut up."

Once in potions, Cale and Scorpius sat at their usual table and Scorpius waited for Albus to come in. Rose and Finn came in but Albus was not with them.

"Where the _hell_ is he?"

"Alright, calm down, mate," said Cale. "Your boyfriend's just late, it's fine." Scorpius punched him.

When class began and the Professor was already telling them about their assignment for the day it was clear that Albus was not coming. They were made to divide up into pairs for the day so Scorpius told Cale to work with his brother while Scorpius would work with Rose.

"What! No way," said Cale. "I want Rose."

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "It's fine, everyone knows you're the one who's in love with her. And apparently I already have a boyfriend, remember?"

Scorpius winked at Cale's bright red face and went over to Finn, albeit throwing him out of his seat and taking it instead.

"I'm your partner today," Scorpius stated to Rose. She looked at him like she knew he was up to something but said nothing.

They had barely started the assignment when Scorpius grew impatient.

"Alright, what the fuck is up with your cousin," he blurted out.

Rose rubbed her eyes. "Everything."

"Care to, umm, elaborate?"

Rose turned and faced him squarely. "One thing you have to know it that I love Albus, forever and always." Scorpius nodded unsurely. "But you're not family so my advice is to stay clear. Like literally don't talk to him ever because I can guarantee he'll fuck you over, again and again."

"What the hell is wrong with him, Weasley," said Scorpius seriously.

"Why do you care?" she spat.

Scorpius realized he didn't really have an answer. Rose just kept shaking her head but couldn't say anything else because the Professor was walking towards their table.


	6. Black Hole Sun

**Chapter 5: Black Hole Sun**

Things started to get bad again. After Albus had found out what was happening to him, he got better because knowing that you're not going crazy for no reason is the best feeling in the world. Albus had thought he was doing alright up until August. When he woke up in the hospital with his mum screaming on the ground and his dad gripping his hand much too tight, he vowed that he would never let himself get that bad again.

_But it's not a choice, is it?_

_No._

_Of course it's not._

Al started coming around more and more. Sometimes he would be around for days before Albus came back. No one seemed to notice or care. Albus Potter was odd, everyone knew that. Albus Potter always had strange mood swings, everyone knew that too.

Rose and Finn knew better. Rose watched Al be loud and obnoxious, always sneaking away with that vile Gloria Feldman. This was not her cousin.

Finn knew it was happening but he pretended it wasn't. He liked Al being around even if he would never admit it. It gave him someone to fuck shit up with, to get drunk with or to have someone to share a joint with before class. Albus would sometimes wonder if Finn liked Al better than him. And that did not help anything.

~O-O~

Albus stumbled back towards Gryffindor tower. He knew he should feel confused and angry but he just felt exhausted.

He mumbled the password to the portrait with zero enthusiasm and walked dejectedly into the common room. He collapsed onto the couch in front of the fire and had a brilliant vision of the couch turning into a black hole and eating him.

Rose got up from the chair she'd been studying on and sat down in front of Albus.

"You okay?" she asked. She always knew. Finn wandered over from the boy's staircase with a bag of licorice wands in his hand and sat down beside Rose.

"Something… happened," said Albus.

"When is something not happening to you?" laughed Finn. Rose muttered something that sounded like _insensitive twat_ under her breath and looked back at Albus.

"What did Al do," she said seriously. "Is he going around and shagging any girl he sees again?"

"Change _any girl _to_ anyone_ and yes, he is," muttered Albus, burying his face in his hands.

Finn and Rose gaped at each other.

"Wait, are you trying to-" started Finn. "Did Al... I mean… are you saying that… is Al-"

"I just had sex with a dude," said Albus.

Rose said "Who was it?" at the same time Finn screamed, "HOLY SHIT!" and collapsed onto the ground laughing hysterically. Rose eventually joined in when the initial shock wore off and even Albus laughed, though his was more in a _oh-god-I'm-so-fucked_ kind of way.

"My god, and I thought you couldn't surprise me anymore, Albus," said Rose shaking her head. She was grinning though.

Finn gave his best friend a licorice wand and through his laughs said, "Soooo who was the lucky guy!"

"His name was Nathan," said Albus. "Ravenclaw, sixth year."

Finn still couldn't stop laughing. "So… Al is bisexual now? What about you?"

Albus groaned and buried his face into the sofa. "No. Maybe. I don't know. Fuck, please can we just forget it?"

Albus could practically feel the faces Rose and Finn were giving each other. Finally Finn went off to finish his transfiguration homework leaving Albus and his cousin alone. Rose was quiet for so long that Albus thought she has snuck away from him until she was burying her face in his neck and hugging him tightly, whispering in his ear, "Know that I'll always love you no matter what."

She kissed his cheek and was gone by the time Albus rolled over and searched for her. When he realized that she had left Albus sunk back into the couch and rubbed his forehead.

_So Al is bisexual_, Albus thought. _Where does that leave me?_

To that, Albus did not have an answer.

~O-O~

Rose woke up the next morning feeling hopeful for the day. Usually she woke up with a sense of apprehension for what dreadful things Al would cause during the day but today she felt good. Albus had been in good spirits last night and his confession made Rose think that it might hopefully ground Albus for a bit and maybe she could get a few good days without seeing _Al_.

She got dressed and went to breakfast where Albus was already waiting for her. He was smiling and funny and above all, he was happy. Rose hadn't seen Albus be truly happy since before _it_ happened. Albus made sure Rose's cup of coffee was always full and she had a feeling that Albus was trying to make up for all the shit he'd put her through recently. There was an unspoken thing between them all breakfast and when it was over and Albus left for Care of Magical Creature while Rose went to Muggle Studies, Rose finally felt that maybe, if she was lucky, things could be better.

But she didn't know that Albus never made it to Care of Magical Creatures. Instead he had a sudden panic attack in an empty classroom and when he came out, Albus had gone and Al was back.

At dinner Rose waited for him but he never showed. She panicked for a moment but made herself calm down, convincing herself that he was just held up with a professor or that he was sending a letter home to his parents. She went up to the dormitory after dinner and refused to freak herself out. She pulled out her potions homework and worked on it, all the while thinking about Albus's lingering absence.

At 10:30 in was the heads' turn to do their patrolling of the hallways. She met Scorpius Malfoy at the Great Hall and they divided up floors. If Rose hadn't been so caught up with Albus she might have noticed the bags under Scorpius's eyes and the way his voice was flat and dead.

Rose had the top four floors while Scorpius had the other three plus the dungeons. Everything was quiet and Rose found it quite boring. Although she would never admit it even having Malfoy with her would have been welcome.

Her watch was almost over when she heard voices coming from somewhere down the fifth floor corridor. Rose rolled her eyes, picturing idiot second years thinking there were the rulers of the world sneaking out past curfew. She rounded the corner ready to yell at whoever it was but did not expect to see what she saw in the slightest; Albus – er, Al pushed up against the wall and being kissed furiously by a burly Ravenclaw boy with swoopy brown hair and amazing muscles.

Seeing this had not been on Rose's plan for the evening.

"Al," groaned Rose. "It's past curfew. You and your… friend should be back in your dormitories."

Al and the boy, who Rose assumed to be Nathan, broke apart and stepped away from each other. Al looked surprised. Nathan looked horrified.

"Come on, Rosie," said Al, regaining his arrogant composure. "It's 10:30, we were just hanging out."

Rose actually laughed at that. "Yes. _Hanging out_. That's what that looked like. Just go back to your dorms. It's late and I'm tired."

Nathan looked about ready to bolt but Al was not to be scared that easily. He walked over to Nathan and wound his fingers with the Ravenclaw's. "Sorry, Rose," he said. "There's an empty classroom over there that I really want to make use of so why don't you run along and read or whatever the fuck it is you do."

"Al-"

"Rosiiie, common," Al whined. He left Nathan and walked over to where Rose was standing. He leaned down and whispered so that only Rose could hear him. "I just want to have a little bit of fun before Albus offs us. Help me out here. As a man's dying wish."

He kissed Rose's cheek and went back to where Nathan was standing. He grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the empty classroom. At the door Al Potter turned back and winked at Rose, mouthing, _don't wait up_.

Rose stared at the door Al had gone through long after it had closed. It was happening again. Just when she thought things were going to be better she was reminded that it wasn't going to get better. That it was nevergoing to get better. It wasn't even happening to her and yet Rose felt like it was. Albus was the one with multiple personalities and yet Rose was the one who worried every second of every god damn day for his life. And tonight, she was done. Done worrying. Just done. She ran off in the opposite direction until she was in the kitchens, forcing the house elves to give her the biggest bottle of Firewhisky they had.

~O-O~

Scorpius finished his rounds at 11:30 and went to the entrance hall to wait for Weasley so that they could talk about some head duty crap and the Halloween dance that Scorpius hated. _Masquerade, really?_

He stood outside the entrance hall and waited for 5 minutes. Then he sat down and waited another 5. When he had waited yet another 10 minutes he became worried. He didn't like to feel worried for a goddamn Weasley but this was _Rose Weasley, _Miss punctual. He waited another 5 minutes before he decided to do a quick sweep of the school for her. If his best friend wasn't totally in love with her he probably wouldn't have bothered.

After 20 minutes of looking he found her in the trophy room, crying quietly and holding a rather large bottle of Firewhisky. Half of it was gone and unless she had poured most of it onto the ground, she must have been wasted.

Scorpius hovered awkwardly at the edge of the room before he cleared his throat and edged forward very slowly. She didn't even move. Scorpius sighed internally and knelt down in front of her.

"Are you okay?" Scorpius asked quietly. Rose Weasley sniffed and took another sip of the alcohol, cringing at the burning taste.

"It's nearly midnight on a school night and I'm very drunk," said Rose in a surprisingly clear voice considering how much she had drunk. "Of course I'm not okay."

Scorpius wasn't sure what to do. When Cale was hammered Scorpius would carry him to bed and put a glass of water on his bedside table for when he woke up. But this was _Rose Weasley_. He had no idea what to do.

"I just love him so much, you know?" said Rose. "But sometimes I don't know if it's enough."

Scorpius took the bottle from her hands and put it on the floor. He had long ago stopped being curious. He put a hand under Rose's chin and lifted her face up.

"It's Albus isn't it," said Scorpius. It wasn't a question.

"I just feel so guilty all the time," whispered Rose. Tears were leaking out of her eyes and yet she stared at Scorpius defiantly. "It's not his fault and yet I get _so_ mad at him all the time. He can't help it but everything Al does makes me want to kill something. I always know what to do. I'm fuckin' Rose Weasley. I'm the top of everything and yet I can't make my best friend be happy. And that's the most important thing there is right now."

Scorpius didn't know what to say. He watched Rose shake with sobs in front of him until she finally collapsed into his arms and kept saying _I don't know what to do, I don't know what to do_ over and over again.

Scorpius picked her up and carried her all the way up to the seventh floor. He doesn't like Gryffindor, he doesn't like the Potter/Weasley clan and yet he felt like he needed to do this. He helped Rose into the portrait hole but before she went in she took Scorpius's hand and, smelling like Firewhisky, she told him that all she wanted was for Albus to be happy. When she was gone and Scorpius was left alone, he realized for the first time that the Albus Potter the world sees cannot be the real Albus Potter.


	7. Heart Out

**Chapter 6: Heart Out**

When Albus woke up in a cold, dark classroom with Nathan the sixth year Ravenclaw pressed up against him, he knew he'd messed up. When he saw Rose at breakfast drinking coffee like it was liquid gold and hiding an obvious hangover he knew that whatever his _other half_ had done was really bad. If he wasn't feeling shitty enough it wasn't anything compared to what he felt after he talked to Finn. Finn had raced up to him when he was leaving for Charms and asked him if he wanted to get high before the lesson. Albus said no (he hated the way it made his head feel like air and made his mouth taste like he'd been chewing on cement) and he saw the look on Finn's face before it was masked by an indifferent look.

Albus stopped walking and grabbed his best friend by the arm. "Al would have said yes, wouldn't he."

Finn shrugged. "I dunno, maybe."

"No, you do know," said Albus. "Al would have said yes and now you're disappointed. Do you- do you like Al better than me?"

"What! No, of course not, Albus. That's ridiculous," said Finn. Albus could always tell when Finn was lying.

"Screw you," Albus whispered, backing away from his friend. "I know you love getting high before class and getting drunk every night so have fun with Al. I won't be seeing you around, Finn."

Albus turned and walked away. Finn called him back but Albus did not turn around.

~O-O~

Weeks past. September ended and October began, bringing with it colder weather and pumpkin scones at breakfast. Scorpius was studying in the library one Sunday afternoon with Cale and Finn, noticing for the first time that Finn was spending more time with his twin brother than he was with Albus who was supposed to be his best friend.

Looking at the other side of the library, Scorpius saw Rose Weasley studying with her brother and a kid with extremely white blonde hair whose name he did not know. At the table behind her, Albus Potter was studying alone.

Scorpius waited until Cale went off to find a book he need for his History of Magic essay before he leaned over to Finn and asked, "Why is Po- Albus studying over there alone? I thought you two were best friends."

Finn looked over at Albus but quickly looked back down at the paper he was writing.

"We had a falling out," admitted Finn. He looked proud and haughty but Scorpius could tell that he was upset.

"What happened," Scorpius asked quietly.

"Albus thought I was using him for- well, just using him," said Finn. He scratched out something on his essay much too angrily. "And maybe I was," he added almost too quietly for Scorpius to hear.

Scorpius looked over at Albus. He looked terrible and a few weeks ago Scorpius probably would have made a joke about it and laughed at him. Now he didn't know what to think. He watched Albus Potter look over at Rose Weasley for awhile until he looked back down at his paper and kept writing. Cale came back and sat down beside Scorpius.

Meanwhile Albus Potter had no one.

~O-O~

Scorpius pushed Albus Potter from his mind. He had quidditch and studies to worry about and Albus Potter's potential insanity had absolutely nothing to do with him.

It was a week away from the Halloween dance when Scorpius finally spoke to Albus again. The prefects and heads were having a meeting about the Halloween dance. They still wanted to go with masquerade but Scorpius wanted nothing more than to do ANYTHING ELSE. He left halfway through the meeting on the pretext that he had to go to the toilets and he just never came back. Instead he walked around the castle, admiring how nice it was when there were no loud first years running around and ugly, bright sunlight coming in through the windows. Now it was dark and quiet. Moonlight lit up the hall and for the first time it actually looked like a castle to Scorpius.

He went to the Astronomy wing to use one the abandoned balconies to get some air. It was cold and windy

and Scorpius was not alone.

Albus Potter was sitting at the edge of the platform with his back against the railing looking up at the pitch-black night sky. Scorpius tried to sneak back out without Potter noticing him but it was too late. Albus looked over and gave Scorpius a quick once over. Scorpius noticed that his eyes were a bit unfocused and that he had a bottle of Firewhisky in one hand and in the other, a lit cigarette was smoldering.

"Uh, sorry," said Scorpius awkwardly. "I'm gonna… go."

"I hate cigarettes," said Albus abruptly. "I hate them. They taste really bad and the smoke makes my eyes sting and they make my clothes smell terrible. I only smoke them because of the feeling they give me."

Scorpius stared at him. "Umm, okay?"

Albus waved his hand drunkenly. "Sit. Common sit down, I have something to tell you."

Scorpius sat down slowly on the other side of the balcony, as far away from Albus as he could get. But it was a small balcony.

"I'm sorry," said Albus.

"For what?"

"For everything. I've always had this feeling like we could have been really good friends if we'd tried back in first year. We could have been good together but _god forbid _we break the lockstep of what society expects from us. So I'm sorry Malfoy. I'm sorry that I convinced myself to hate you when you're probably really awesome."

"Wait, what?" said Scorpius, completely taken aback. "What just happened?!"

Albus Potter grinned bigger than he'd done in what felt like years.

"So what about you," he said. "What's your story."

"What do you mean?" Scorpius was completely blown away with how Albus was acting.

"It's nearly midnight. No one comes out here, onto this balcony, at this time of night unless they're fucked so I ask again. What's your story, Malfoy?"

Scorpius didn't say anything for a moment and then all in one breath he said, "I hate who I am every single day because I don't think this is who I want to be but it's who I need to be because of my father and sometimes I just want to be rebel and do the things that I actually want to do but I don't know if I can or if I will ever be able to because of my father's overwhelming presence that's always shadowing my life."

Albus looked surprised that he had actually shared all that. Then he smiled and said, "Ticking time bomb."

"Honestly, I see three possible outcomes for my life," said Scorpius. He began ticking them off his fingers. "I'll play the good boy for my father for the rest of my life and probably become a raging alcoholic behind closed doors, I'll snap so bad one day that I'll go completely off the deep end and become a drug addicted prostitute with tattoos and piercings everywhere and dyed red hair." He sent Albus a smirk. "Or the last option. I finally just give up and kill myself."

Albus let out a low whistle. "Well, shit. I think you deserve a drink for that."

He held out the bottle of Firewhisky. Scorpius hesitated.

"I've never been drunk before."

"Well if you don't want to kill yourself or become a drug addicted prostitute you should probably start drinking now."

It was a joke but it broke the tension and got Scorpius to laugh and take the bottle. He raised it to his lips and took a sip. The alcohol burned as it dripped down his throat but Scorpius found that in a strange way it was a good kind of burn. He took another sip and then another. Albus watched him with amusement, finally telling him to slow down a bit after his 5th drink. Scorpius handed the bottle back to Albus and licked his lips. The two fell into silence and after a few minutes, Scorpius began to feel a strange sensation in the pit of his stomach that went right to his head. He looked over at Albus and grinned. Albus giggled and shook his head. He took a half empty pack of cigarettes out of his pocket.

"Wanna knock another first off your list?"

Scorpius hesitated for the briefest of seconds before he stood up a bit shakily and walked over to Albus. He sat down in front of him and enjoyed the foggy feeling in his head.

Albus took out a cigarette from the pack. He lit it and took a drag, blowing smoke into the air. Then he took the cigarette from his mouth and placed it between Scorpius's lips.

"Breathe in," he said. Scorpius did as he was told, never breaking eye contact with Albus. Then he took the cigarette from his mouth and quickly passed it to Albus before breaking out into a painful coughing fit. Albus burst out laughing.

"Hey, not bad!" he said. "You lasted longer than me on my first cigarette."

Albus took another drag while Scorpius took another shot. Then they switched. Neither of them said anything but there was really nothing to say.

A while later (neither of them were quite sure how long they'd been out there for) Scorpius said to Albus that they probably should start getting back. He laughed at how slurred his voice sounded out loud. He laughed even harder when he stood up and realized just how shaky he was.

"Merlin, you are drunk," mused Albus, standing up too. He was also drunk but the difference was he had done this before and apparently Scorpius was a serious lightweight.

Albus half walked, half dragged Scorpius down to the dungeons. Scorpius could not stop laughing at just how much he was going to regret this tomorrow. Albus giggled.

"Next time I have to get you high," he said. "Now _that_ would be funny."

When they were finally at the entrance to the Slytherin common room and Scorpius had told the wall the password (Albus would forget it by morning), Scorpius turned to Albus and, swaying a bit, said, "Thank you, Albus Potter. Thank you for corrupting me. And I do mean that in a good way."

Albus grinned. "Good. I'm glad."

"I have to ask something," said Scorpius. "Uh, what's wrong with you?" He swore and face palmed. "Sorry, that was tactless. Umm… what's wrong with you?"

Albus stepped away and looked down at the floor.

"Maybe that's a story for another night."

Then he smiled, waved at the Slytherin and left without looking back.

~O-O~

Scorpius didn't remember getting into bed, let alone entering the common room. He woke up the next morning when Cale pulled back the curtains and sunlight lit up the room. Scorpius felt like someone had turned on a 10 000 watt light bulb right in his face.

"Oh god, oh god," he said. "Turn it off, it hurts."

"What the hell is wrong with you," said Cale from somewhere across the room. To Scorpius it sounded like he was screaming.

When he didn't answer Cale walked over and looked at him.

"Holy shit Scor, are you- are you hungover?"

"No," muttered Scorpius, "I think I'm still drunk."

Cale gaped at him. "I've been trying to get you drunk for… I don't know how long! Who the hell got you drunk!?"

Scorpius just groaned.

"Fine, fine. I'll ask you after you have coffee coursing through your veins."

Twenty minutes later and Scorpius was in the Great Hall drinking coffee out of a straw. As Cale waited patiently for Scorpius to rejoin the land of the living, Finn came over from the Gryffindor table.

"Why the flipping fuck are you drinking that with a straw?" he asked, sitting down beside his brother.

"Mr. Perfect went out and got drunk last night," said Cale.

"Ha, nice one!" he yelled. "Finally, mate!"

"You're too loud," moaned Scorpius.

Finn snorted. "Alright, alright. So who'd you get drunk with? Cale always has wicked hangovers and he seems fine so who was it?"

"It was Albus Potter," said Scorpius.

Cale made an incredulous noise at the back of his throat and looked shocked and somewhat impressed. Finn's mouth fell open and his hand spasmed so bad that he knocked over an entire pitcher of pumpkin juice but made no effort to clean it up.

"Wait," he said seriously. "Who _exactly_ did you get drunk with."

Scorpius's eyes narrowed. "I just told you, Albus Potter."

Finn paled. "No, I mean- shit. Alright, how was he acting?"

"I don't really understand what you mean," said Scorpius. "He was like me, needing a break and escaping to the astronomy balcony. He was also smoking a cigarette." Finn's expression changed. "But- okay, I remember now. He told me how he hated cigarettes and only liked them for the feeling they give him."

Cale said, "Masochist!" at the same time Finn jumped up and ran off towards the Gryffindor table without another word.

Cale and Scorpius shared a look.

"What the hell's up with him?" said Scorpius.

"No idea."

~O-O~

Finn sat down opposite Albus at the table. Albus didn't even bother looking up.

"I'm still mad at you."

"I know, I know," said Finn. "I just… I need to know that you're okay. Because I know for a fact that Al is the lonely drinker. The fucking borderline alcoholic. You, _Albus_, you have never been that person."

"Fuck off," muttered Albus.

"You're fucked, Albus," said Finn, standing up. "I messed up but you need me. We both know that even if you won't admit it."

Finn left, leaving Albus to watch Scorpius Malfoy drink coffee from a straw.

~O-O~

There were three reasons that Scorpius didn't want the Halloween dance to be masquerade.

It was incredibly cliché.

He would definitely end up dancing with someone he didn't like but wouldn't be able to tell who it was because they all would be wearing masks.

Absolutely nothing good ever came from school dances. Ever.

Scorpius was pouting as he waited by the doors to the Great Hall on Halloween night. Rose Weasley was standing opposite him.

"Stop pouting," she said.

"I'm not pouting," said Scorpius.

"Liar," said Finn who just happened to walk by at that moment. Rose smirked at Scorpius and he flipped her off.

The heads duty was to welcome people into the hall while the prefects inside would make sure the rest went smoothly. The dance started at 9 and by 9:20 Scorpius was bored out of his mind. Rose remained professional the whole time but Scorpius could tell she was dying too.

Scorpius watched all the different people go in. He barely even recognized half of them and that was before they even put their masquerade masks on. Cale eventually came and stood by Scorpius for a while to keep him company.

"Came stag, I see," said Scorpius.

"I'm a lone wolf," said Cale. "Or a lone werewolf to be more magically correct."

He sent Rose a quick sideways glance before entering the Great Hall. Scorpius stared after him before turning to Rose and saying, "If you don't dance with him at least once tonight I will kill you."

Rose blushed a brilliant shade of pink and left on the pretext of checking the drinks table. Once she was gone Scorpius waited five more minutes before he gave up. He pulled out a mask from the box behind the door and left the safety of his post.

The Great Hall was almost unrecognizable. The candles that normally lined the room were gone. The only light now was coming from the massive stage where a band called _The Expecto Patronums_ were playing. The room was loud and the lights were seizure-inducing and if Scorpius didn't have head boy duties to uphold, he thought, he definitely would not be here right now.

He waited by the edge of the snacks table, not wanted to join the fray but also being unable to leave. He saw Finn dancing with his brother and then with a pretty Hufflepuff. Later he saw Cale pulling Rose Weasley by the hand into the throng of people and Scorpius felt incredibly happy and proud of him.

An hour later and Scorpius was dying to leave. All he wanted to do was get back to the Slytherin dorm and be once again in the safety of his bed but he couldn't… unless he told Rose. So he did what he had to. Pushing hot, drunken bodies to the side, Scorpius tried to find his co-head but it was nearly impossible in the sea of people. A slow song started and everyone began moving into pairs which made things even more confusing. He was about to leave when suddenly someone was grabbing his hands and spinning him around.

"Hide me, Louis!" the boy hissed, pressing his body right up against Scorpius's and ducking his head. Scorpius took a moment to process what the hell was going on. He looked down at the person but he couldn't tell who it was because of his mask and the strobe lights.

"Fuck, she's over there!" the person hissed, whipping Scorpius around and shielding himself from someone. "Christ I can't believe Al likes her."

"Umm…" was all Scorpius could manage.

"Thanks, Louis," said the boy. "I just really- HOLY SHIT."

He had looked up.

Scorpius Malfoy looked down in shock and found Albus Potter gaping at him.

"Oh, crap," said Albus. "Oh, crap. You look exactly like Louis from the back, you have the exact same hair color!"

Scorpius didn't have any words to ease the situation so he just let go of Albus Potter's hands and made to step away. Albus almost let him do it until he suddenly let out a strangled yell and swore, grabbing Scorpius's hands again and crouching slightly behind him.

"_Fuck fuck fuck_," he said. "Gloria's right there, fuckin' hell."

Scorpius followed his gaze. Gloria Feldman, in a very revealing dress, was craning her neck over the crowd, searching. Albus ducked lower, burying his face into Scorpius's neck. Scorpius was dumbstruck, unable to believe this was _actually happening._

"Thanks for not, umm, punching me in the face," muttered Albus. Scorpius shrugged.

"I'm so bored and I hate my life so much right now that you could be trying to get into my pants again and I wouldn't care."

"Aw, shit," said Albus. "I apologize for that. Sometimes I get… really weird."

"Yeah, that's a definite understatement."

Scorpius could feel Albus's face heat up against his neck. Enjoying the moment, Scorpius grinned and started dancing so that they wouldn't look out of place.

"I thought you were dating Gloria," mused Scorpius. "At least that's what I heard. Or what she's telling everyone."

Albus groaned. "Wizard god, she's the worst. I can't believe he- I mean, me, I, myself had ever liked her."

Scorpius looked over at Gloria who was now dancing with a guy a few couples away.

"Oh, look, she's dancing with somebody." Scorpius looked closer. "I think it's… Nathan, sixth year from Ravenclaw."

Albus looked like he'd been shot.

"You've got to be kidding me! Oh my god, this is my nightmare. This is my fucking nightmare!"

"What the hell is going on?".

"Fuck. This night can't get any worse," he said, shaking his head. Then he looked up at Scorpius. "Not to mention awkward."

"It could be more awkward," grinned Scorpius. He was enjoying Albus's pain far too much.

"How."

"I could mention how soft your hands are and how perfectly they fit with mine and how great you look in your dress robes-"

"OKAY, OKAY!" yelled Albus, red-faced, though his voiced was mostly drowned out by the music. "Alright, I get the picture!"

It was a few minutes before Scorpius could stop laughing. When he finally did stop laughing he noticed that Gloria and Nathan were much further away.

"They're far away now, by the way," he said. "If you sneak out backwards you'll be safe."

"Oh," said Albus. "Oh, right yeah."

Before Albus let go of Scorpius's hands he blushed and said, "Thanks, Malfoy. You didn't have to help me but I'm glad you were having such a horrible night that even camouflage dancing with me was alright."

"Sure, okay," said Scorpius.

There was a slight uncomfortable pause before Albus dropped his arms and turned away.

"I owe you one!" he called over his shoulder. "And also you're a terrible dancer!"

The crowd shifted and Scorpius lost Albus in the mix. He stared after him for awhile feeling confused and pleased at the same time until Cale suddenly appeared in front of him looking tired and overheated but incredibly excited.

"Dude," he said. "I just slow danced with Rose Weasley. This is the best day of my entire life. What's wrong with your face?"

Scorpius shook his head. "Uh, nothing. Weird night. Tell Rose I'm leaving."

Scorpius left the dance floor the way Albus had gone but the strange Potter boy had already disappeared.


	8. Can't Stand Me Now

**Chapter 7: Can't Stand Me Now**

November was a strange month for Hogwarts castle.

It started with Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy camouflage dancing on Halloween and ended with Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy engaged in a violent fistfight on the first floor staircase in front of everyone.

Finn and Albus made up a few days after Halloween. Finn apologized again and while Al likes to do more of the reckless things that he likes, Albus is his best friend. Albus just hugged him and said that he needed him.

A few days later and Scorpius was studying in the library with Finn and Cale. Finn suddenly looked up and hailed someone over. Albus Potter walked over and stood awkwardly behind the empty chair at the table. Scorpius realized that Albus was waiting for his permission to sit so he just shrugged and Albus took the seat opposite him.

"What's up, crazy?" said Cale happily. He then swore much too loudly when Finn stepped harshly on his foot under the table.

Albus snickered. "It's fine, Finn. Though it's soon not gonna be fine for you, Cale."

The four of them watched Ms. Rey the librarian march up to the table, grab Cale by his hoodie and drag him out of the library. The moment they were gone Finn burst out laughing and started riffling through his brother's bag which had been forgotten.

"Merlin, what an idiot. Ooh, candy."

Finn pulled out a box of _Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans_ and handed them out. He went first.

"Eugh, mayonnaise," he said, coughing.

Albus gagged on his. "Oh god, hairball."

"Mmm, vanilla," said Scorpius.

Albus kicked him under the table and Finn whipped the candy box at his face. Scorpius laughed, throwing the box back and kicking Albus right back under the table.

That was the first time Scorpius and Albus hung out civilly together.

The next time was in potions. They had been paired up for the lesson, which normally would have caused mass destruction, but today they just looked at each other and nodded.

Albus got the ingredients while Scorpius heated up the cauldron. They divided up the steps and got to work only saying the bare minimum. Scorpius wanted to at least have some sort of a conversation but he didn't want to be the first one to say something. Albus really didn't like the silence so he waited for Scorpius to be the first one to talk.

Thirty minutes later and it was still dead silent. It was broken when Scorpius went to throw in the Keuning Roots and Albus grabbed his wrist.

"HOLD UP," he said. "Are those the Roots?"

"Yeah?"

"You gotta core them first," said Albus, taking them from Scorpius and grabbing the knife. Scorpius flipped through the potions book.

"What? It doesn't say that in here."

"Tip HP taught me," said Albus. He caught the look on Scorpius's face. "That was weird. I don't know why I just called him that."

Albus cored the first root, taking out the deep purple centre. Scorpius watched Albus's hands, noticing for the first time that he was left-handed. He looked at Albus's long, pale fingers.

"Piano," Scorpius blurted out. Albus looked up.

"What?"

"Uh, sorry," muttered Scorpius, horrified. "Umm, sometimes I, uh, do this thing where I predict what instrument people play by their hands."

"Oh," said Albus. He looked down at his hands. "I did play piano actually. I haven't though since- well, not since awhile now."

The way he said it, all nonchalant and offhanded, told Scorpius something wasn't right. But Scorpius knew what he meant. He had read it in the Prophet when the story came out, everyone had.

To bypass the moment, Albus handed Scorpius the knife and went to get more ingredients that they didn't need. Trusting Albus (something Scorpius never thought he'd do), Scorpius finished maiming the Roots and threw them into the cauldron. The green color of their potion that would have gotten them an Exceeds Expectations turned neon green, the exact shade in the book. Scorpius left potions with an O and a strange new take on Albus Potter.

~O-O~

There were five moments that led up to the fallout.

The first one happened on the first Saturday of November. Scorpius was in the library, trying to find a very specific book for his Herbology essay. As he was weaving through the aisles trying to find the Toxic Herbology section, what he found instead was Albus Potter sitting cross-legged on a chair eating licorice wands. He looked up when he heard Scorpius coming and they both nodded before Scorpius went on. When Scorpius came back the same way, struggling to carry a massive tome that seemed to be shedding dirt, he noticed something different about Albus. Now he was lounging on the chair with his legs dangling off the end and an arrogant smirk on his face. He had his wand out and was pointing it at the book he had been reading earlier so that it had a fistfight with another book in midair. When he saw Scorpius he grinned and winked and yelled, "MALFOY" before tossing him a licorice wand. Scorpius caught it though barely, as he was still wrestling with the heavy book. He wasn't sure what to think of that after he had left, other than maybe Albus wasn't just a prick after all.

The next happened a few days later. Albus and Finn had been studying in the Great Hall when Cale decided that he absolutely needed to see his brother at that moment. He dragged Scorpius along with him to sit and awkwardly and wait for him. Albus had all his books spread out on the table. He seemed to be studying every subject at the same time.

Something was sticking out of Albus's Transfiguration book and Scorpius realized that it was their first quiz. He slipped it out, hoping to see that he has beat Albus's grade. He took one look at it and burst out laughing.

"Holy shit! Is that me!" he asked, pointed at the figure that was being violently murdered by a unicorn. Albus looked up, paled, grabbed the paper back and then blushed furiously.

"No," he said much too fast.

Scorpius roared with laugher. "Can I keep that? Seriously, I didn't know you could draw, that's really very good. Can I pin that above my bed?"

To Scorpius's surprise, Albus actually handed over the picture. That night Scorpius did actually pin it above his bed. He wasn't really sure why but waking up to a picture of Albus Potter astride a unicorn that was fantastically killing him made his day infinitely better.

The third time happened after Albus had been absent for a record 7 days. Al was even crazier than usual, spending most of the time high or drunk or mysteriously missing at the same time Nathan the Ravenclaw was. Rose had given up, Finn had stopped getting high with him because even he was worried and even Al himself wasn't happy.

While everyone was at dinner, Al snuck off, unable to ignore Rose's constant overbearing stare anymore. He grabbed his bag and left, ignoring his friends calling out after him. He had meant to go back to the common room and curl up in front of the fireplace and stare into the flames for hours like he'd been doing for the past week but instead he went the other way, down the steps until he was striding across grounds towards the quidditch pitch.

It was dark, but still light enough to see. It was also quite cloudy for the time of day and Al thought that it was probably going to rain.

He climbed the stairs to the stands and sat down at the very top. He opened his bag and took out a stack of papers stuffed haphazardly in a folder. The outside of the folder said _ASSIGNMENTS_.

That is actually a total lie. The folder was filled with Al's stories. He wrote all the time because writing was his escape. Albus escapes to Al and Al escapes to the worlds he creates in his mind. Because things are better there. They could be how he wanted and no one got to decide for him how things happened.

Al took a quill and ink from his cloak pocket and wrote from where he had left off. It was a short story he'd been working on for awhile. The main character was to be killed in the end.

After awhile Al looked up and noticed that he was not alone. Someone was flying around the pitch. Al watched the figure shoot the quaffle through the centre hoop before flying after it and catching it before it hit the ground. Al squinted at the figure as they flew back into the stadium. The emerald robes and silver hair were unmistakable.

It was another twenty minutes before Scorpius noticed Al. He flew over to the stands and hovered above him.

"What are _you_ doing here, Potter?" he asked suspiciously. "Not spying are you?"

Al looked up from his papers. "Nope, just developing hypothermia."

Scorpius landed next to him. "Seriously, what are you doing?"

He snatched the paper out of Al's hand. Al jumped up looking ready to punch him in the face but then he sat back down like he just didn't care anymore.

Scorpius read the first few lines of Al's story. His eyebrows disappeared under his fringe. He didn't know Potter wrote stories. It was actually pretty good.

Scorpius handed it back. "Wow, umm, not bad."

"Thanks."

"How does it end?"

"The boy kills himself.

"My, how cheery," said Scorpius.

Scorpius looked up as it began to rain. He missed how Al shuddered and closed his eyes.

"We should go back in," said Scorpius. He looked down at Albus and noticed that strange look on his face. "You okay?"

Albus looked up startled. "What? Oh, yeah."

Albus packed up his things and tucked them away in his bag. Scorpius watched him.

They walked back to the castle together in silence. The rain came down harder and the wind picked up. Albus and Scorpius huddled together automatically. Once they were back in the school Albus took off without a word to Scorpius. Scorpius stood frozen, watching Albus until he was out of sight. Part of him felt somewhat pleased that he'd been able to break through Potter's mysterious shell and read his story, something Scorpius was sure not many other people could say. The other part was complete confusion and strangely enough, worry.

~O-O~

It wasn't even a week later when Scorpius stood outside Defense Against the Dark Arts and watched as Albus sprinted the length of the hallway…

and right to him. He stopped in front of Scorpius and bent over, gasping for breath. Scorpius waited patiently.

"I've just been talking to Finn about quidditch," wheezed Albus. He took a couple more breaths. "You _need _to beat Ravenclaw in the next match or else I'll die. I will literally die."

Scorpius smirked. "Right. I remember how Ravenclaw creamed you in your last match how _embarrassing_."

"Shut up," growled Albus. "Just… please. I will literally do anything. Just flatten them and I will owe you big time."

Scorpius rolled his eyes and walked into class. He was surprised when Albus followed him in.

"You already owe me one from Halloween, Potter. Remember?"

"Fuck. Okay so now I just owe you a really big one okay?" said Albus.

"Ha, that's what she said," said Scorpius, sitting down at his desk beside Cale who looked up curiously.

Albus looked shocked and pleased by that. "I did not think I would ever hear you-"

That's when the Professor came in and loudly reminded Albus that he did not have Defense Against the Dark Arts that period. Albus ran out but not before pointing at Scorpius and sending him a very poignant look. When he was gone and the lesson had started, Cale pushed a note over to Scorpius's side of the desk.

_You two are so cute together._

Scorpius calmly folded up the note and then violently shoved it down the back of Cale's shirt. He squealed loudly enough for everyone to look round at them. Scorpius just smiled like nothing was out of the ordinary.

Three days later and Scorpius was sitting on his broom as the sea of green and red fans screamed and cheered. Slytherin had won which meant Gryffindor was back in first place and Ravenclaw had been bumped back to third. Slytherin was now in second place which would have made him happy but something else was on his mind.

He had scored thirty-seven times in the game. He had never scored that much. Really the only thing this time that had been different was Albus Potter asking him to win. Scorpius didn't have to, if anything he should have played terribly and let Ravenclaw win so that Gryffindor wouldn't be first like they _always are_. Instead Scorpius did exactly what Gryffindor wanted. And why did he do that?

Because Potter asked him to.

Scorpius flew down, not really sure what this meant. He had a strange feeling like he was missing something.

The moment he touched down on the ground he saw Albus sprinting for him. Scorpius barely had time to look surprised before Albus was enveloping him a bone-crushing hug. Scorpius nearly fell over from the sheer excitement of Albus's hug giving.

"Christ, Potter," said Scorpius, "it's as if you just won the game."

Albus pulled back but kept his arm around Scorpius's shoulder. He was grinning like the damn Cheshire Cat.

"I DID!" he yelled. "Thirty-seven points, Scorpius! THIRTY-SEVEN!"

Scorpius grinned back and wondered if Albus's mood was infectious.

There was a party that night in the Slytherin common room. For the first time in Hogwarts history there were Gryffindor's invited into the Slytherin common room. The Gryffindor's were celebrating being back in first and the Slytherin's were celebrating their win.

The first half of the night, Scorpius was happy that the Slytherin's and Gryffindor's could actually get along. The second half of the night was basically a complete blur. Scorpius got very very drunk from all the shots Cale seemed to be pouring down his throat. Scorpius figured this was Cale's revenge for not getting drunk with him his first time. Scorpius knew he would regret this in the morning but tonight he didn't care.

Tonight he wasn't Scorpius Malfoy. Tonight he was just a boy, a drunk happy mess who played flip cup and beer pong and let a Gryffindor girl kiss him and who danced with Albus Potter under the lights. Scorpius had never felt so alive and Albus Potter's eyes had never been so green and for the first time Scorpius understood what it meant to be alive.

~O-O~

The next morning, Scorpius expected to spend the whole day in bed with the worst headache imaginable and praying for death. Instead he woke up early, dressed and went down to the Great Hall to get a rather large cup of coffee. He found he had no hangover.

He took his coffee up to the Owlery where he sat on one of the window ledges. He held his coffee but forgot to drink it.

Everything made sense now. Scorpius considered himself smart but it had taken him so long to realize it that he felt like a complete idiot.

It explained everything. Why a part of Scorpius was near constantly worried for Albus Potter and whatever the hell he was going through. Why he'd spent six years hating him and suddenly they were _best friends_. Why after saying no to Cale for years he agreed to get drunk after Albus asked him once. It explained everything and yet now Scorpius felt even more lost.

Scorpius fancied Albus Potter.


End file.
